As the two great prizefighters of the 1980s gamely took their picks, Pacquiao breezed through a light routine on the first day of his training for what he calls the “greatest fight of my life” against De La Hoya on Dec. 6 at the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas.
No one was allowed to watch at the Wild Card Gym in Hollywood, according to philboxing.com, as Freddie Roach started to get his most famous ward back into shape Wednesday afternoon.
Three tall sparring mates have been lined up, all of whom packing a mean left hook, which is De La Hoya’s main weapon according to Roach.
“They all have powerful left hooks,” the philboxing.com report quoted Roach as describing Pacquiao’s sparmates.
The trainer also pooh-poohed the Golden Boy’s right hand. “He (De La Hoya) has no right,” said Roach. “He has a jab but no right.”
Yuri Foreman, a 5-foot-11 NABF light middleweight champion who boasts a 25-0 record with eight KOs, will be the top sparmate for Pacquiao, the reigning WBC lightweight champion.
Joining Foreman are fellow middleweight Arron Robinson, a 5-10 fighter with a 6-2-0 (4 KOs) record and 5-11 welterweight Rashad Holloway (9-1-0).
The three hope to sharpen up the 5-6 Pacquiao when he takes on the 5-10 De La Hoya, a 10-time world champion in a 12-round bout at l47 pounds.
Duran, the legendary Panamanian who moved up from lightweight to welterweight in the ’80s, told boxingconfidential.com that he is leaning toward the smaller, faster and gutsier Pacquiao.
“I am leaning toward Pacquiao,” Duran said. “I like De La Hoya, he has been a great fighter ... But he has not been very active in recent years.
“Pacquiao has been extremely active. It seems like he is always training and fighting.”
Nicknamed “Manos de Piedra” or Hands of Stone, Duran scored a unanimous decision win over the flamboyant Sugar Ray Leonard in 1980.
Hearns, dubbed as the Hitman and who was world champion in six weight classes, said he is betting on De La Hoya because of his sheer size advantage, according to boxingconfidential.com.
“No way Pacquiao can win,” Hearns said, adding that the fight could be over for the Filipino in four or five rounds.
“Oscar may carry him for a few rounds but he is way too big and too strong for the smaller man.”
Meanwhile, in his column in the tabloid Abante, Pacquiao asked the fans to make sure they don’t bring in virus when they visit him in the gym.
He told his readers that lack of sleep, change in temperature and the onset of the flu season caused him to cancel a planned trip to Las Vegas to meet Top Rank president Bob Arum last Tuesday. He instead took a day off. (By Marc Anthony Reyes; INQ.net)
No comments:
Post a Comment